The adventures of two sisters + food enthusiasts as they bake, cook, and eat anything, anywhere.

April 14, 2012April 12, 2012

Cafe 47, Back Bay, Boston

Cafe 47 is a pizza and pasta joint on Massachusetts Ave and Marlborough Street. The restaurant is easy to miss, but is right near India Samraat and Sweet Cupcakes. Look for the sign that has a huge 47, surrounded by the words Pizza and Pasta. My friend is a regular and has been singing high praise for Cafe 47’s meatballs.

I loved the brick, local art, mirrors and overall dark wood aesthetic. You definitely would not expect Cafe 47 to have this interior and it was a pleasant surprise.

Cafe 47 has a nice selection of sangria, sparkling cocktails and the menu serves pizzas, pastas, salads and appetizer ingredients are which are locally sourced and are all prepared in-house from scratch. The restaurant participates in a local CSA and designates Local items with an L. My friend told me after multiple tries with the angus cheeseburger with fries (inconsistent, not seasoned) stick to the solid and flavorful pizzas and pastas.

In the back kitchen area, two chalk boards list the dinner specials and desserts.

I enjoyed a raspberry lime sparkler (an adult raspberry lime rickey) for $8. It was a blast of childhood nostalgia and refreshing lightly sweet drink with the raspberry puree, fresh lime and sparkling wine.

My friend enjoyed a Sam Adams draft and the waitress brought out all the pizza topping fixings, chili flakes, parmesan and additional spices.

The Hand Formed Meatballs (L) with slow roasted tomato garlic sauce & spaghetti were as good as I dreamed up in my mind ($14). The tender meatballs were covered in freshly grated parmesean cheese and the tomato garlic flavor was a great contrast to the al dente spaghetti. I would definitely suggest everyone order these next time.

To compare the meatballs without the special sauce, I ordered a side of four meatballs for $3. I think the slow roasted garlic tomato sauce makes these meatballs even more special, but they were still very nice with the simple and fresh marinara.

The chocolate mousse was quite generous in size and I enjoyed the griddled banana bread, served with ice cream and freshly sliced berries. The banana bread was a bit oily, and I think the bananas foster banana bread I use is much more layered and flavorful, but the combination of ice cream and berries made this banana bread tasty.

The Shroom lovers pizza with portobello and oyster mushrooms, goat cheese and reduced balsamic glaze, the autumn squash, caramelized onions, sopressata pizza, as well as the the shaved mortadella pizza with roast garlic and thyme all looked very interesting. Next time. I would also order the Truffle Parmesan Arancini (L) with garlic whipped ricotta and the chicken carbonara with parmesan sauce, bacon.